Brakeall, LG "Interactive citation workbook: ALWD, by T.L. McGaugh, C. Hurt, K.G. Holloway (Book Review)" LAW LIBRARY JOURNAL 94 (2). SPR 2002. p.325-328 AMER ASSN LAW LIBRARIES, CHICAGO

[Eugene Garfield]

Brakeall, LG : E-mail : brakeall at chuma1.cas.usf.edu


TITLE:          Interactive citation workbook: ALWD, by T.L. McGaugh, C.
                Hurt, K.G. Holloway (Book Review, English)


Full text available at : http://www.aallnet.org/products/2002-21.pdf


AUTHOR:         Brakeall, LG
SOURCE:         LAW LIBRARY JOURNAL 94 (2). SPR 2002. p.325-328 AMER
                ASSN LAW LIBRARIES, CHICAGO

SEARCH TERM(S):  CITATION*  item_title

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FULL TEXT:

McGaugh, Tracy L., Christine Hurt, and Kay G. Holloway, Interactive Citation
Workbook for The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation.  2nd ed.  New York:
Lexis Publishing, 2001. 141p. $18.00.
McGaugh, Tracy L., Christine Hurt, and Kay G. Holloway, Interactive Citation
Workbook for
ALWD Citation Manual.  2nd ed.  New York: Lexis Publishing, 2001. 141p,
$18.00.

Reviewed by Linda Brakeall

The publication of these two workbooks mirrors the tension in legal citation
between what appear to be the two finalists in the ongoing competition to be
considered the definitive legal citation manual: The Bluebook: A Uniform
System of Citation n1 [n1 The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (17th
ed. 2000) [hereinafter Bluebook}]and The ALWD Citation Manual: A
Professional System of Citation. n2 [n2 Darby Dickerson, Ass=n of Legal
Writing Directors, ALWD Citation Manual: A Professional System of Citation
(2000) [hereinafter ALWD Citation Manual]]  Several fine articles trace the
history of legal citation in the United States from the first edition of the
Bluebook in 1926 to the development of alternative systems of citation, most
recently and most successfully the ALWD Citation Manual, n3 [n3 See, e.g.,
Melissa H. Weresh, Article: The ALWD Citation Manual: A Coup de Grace, 23 U.
Ark. Little Rock L. Rev. 775 (2001); Carol M. Bast & Susan Harrell, Review
Article: Has the Bluebook Met Its Match? The ALWD Citation Manual, 92 Law.
Libr. J. 337 (2000)], and I recommend these as background reading to
understand the basic differences between the two systems, the rationale
underlying these differences, and the development of legal citation in
general in this country.  You will find no such comparisons or tensions in
the workbooks themselves; each confines itself with admirable
self-containment to the usage of the particular citation system at hand.
That said, however, it is worth noting that the organization and
presentation of material in each Workbook is virtually identical to that of
the other, differing substantively only in reference to and application of
each system=s rules.  These books even look identical, both sporting
attractive navy blue soft covers with gold and silver accents, and both
having the same exact number of pages.  So similar are the two that page
references in this review will be to both Workbooks unless otherwise noted.
AAttention to the detail of citations is a part of the legal culture.  Thus
the citation manual is a necessary tool in the research and writing
process.@ n4 [n4 Carol M. Bast & Susan Harrell, Review Article: Has the
Bluebook Met Its Match? The ALWD Citation Manual, 92 Law. Libr. J. at 338
(2000)]  First, however, one must be able to master the use of that tool.
The authors of these Workbooks have provided a coherent and useful bridge
from the often confusing citation manual to understanding and applying the
rules of citation, using an orderly sequence of seventeen explanatory
chapters with exercises, each of which Abuilds on and reinforces the skills
learned in previous exercises@ (p.ix).  The Workbooks are designed to be
used in tandem with, not instead of, the appropriate citation manual, and
users are admonished at the outset to read the manual=s introductory
material, to become familiar with its layout, and to make use the manual=s
index as the Abest bet@ for locating information. (p.ix)   Particular rules
in each citation manual are referenced by specific rule number as
appropriate to each chapter in the Workbooks, and users are encouraged to
read each rule as well as the examples provided.  Law students engaged in
the legal research and writing process are the target audience; the Workbook
exercises and their online counterpart serve as a tutorial in multiple parts
that a professor can assign as he or she deems appropriate or through which
the user can move at his or her individual pace.
Workbook authors Tracy L. McGaugh, Christine Hurt, and Kay G. Holloway all
bring impressive experience and credentials to this endeavor.  McGaugh is
Associate Director of the Legal Practice Program at Texas Tech University
School of Law.  Christine Hurt is Director, Legal Research and Writing
Program, University of Houston Law Center.  Kay G. Holloway is Legal
Practice Professor of Law, Texas Tech University School of Law.  All three
are styled ADevelopers and Content Providers@ on the Interactive Citation
Workstation web page n5 [n5 <http://icw.lexisnexis.com/bios.htm> accessed
11/12/01].
Both Workbooks present material logically, in incremental units, with
explanations in plain language and with exercises designed to reinforce
learning.  The stated purpose of the Workbooks is to foster familiarity with
use of citation rules rather than to impose memorization (p.ix).  Each
chapter begins with a concise explanatory discussion of appropriate rules
and their application, and includes citation examples.  A wonderful feature
are the checklists included in every chapter, each a series of questions
that distill the information needed to complete that chapter=s exercises and
serve as a short reminder list to students.  Chapters 1-5 deal with Case
Law--Case Names, Case Location, Court & Date, Parallel Citations, and Short
Forms (Cases)--, and Chapters 6-8 with Statutory Law--Federal Statutes,
State Statutes, and Short Forms (Statutes).  Stopping for breath at Chapter
9, the authors offer a review, along with the cheerful news that Ayou are
well on your way to mastering legal citation!@ and the suggestion that,
before the user continues Amarching on,@ completion of Exercise 9,
Comprehensive Core Exercise, will reinforce skills. Skills that are more
advanced make up Chapters 10-15:  Prior & Subsequent Case History, Texas
Courts of Appeals Cases, Secondary Sources, Parentheticals, Signals, and
Legislative Resources (including Legislative History and Administrative
Resources).  In Chapter 16, Electronic, Internet & Nonprint Sources, authors
state preference of both The Bluebook and ALWD that citation be Ato
traditional printed sources for reasons of broad accessibility,
authoritativeness, and permanence.@ (p.119 Bluebook Workbook; p. 121 ALWD
Workbook).  Recognizing the ultimate goal of ease of access, however, both
Workbooks provide citation rules for electronic resources.  Chapter 16 of
The Interactive Citation Workbook for The Bluebook covers Electronic
Databases; Statutes; Legislative, Administrative, and Executive Materials;
Secondary Materials; and Internet Sources.  The Interactive Citation
Workbook for ALWD addresses citation to Electronic Databases and Internet
Sources.  The final chapter in each Workbook, Chapter 17, asks When Do I
Cite?, calling this Athe most important citation rule@ (p.127) and offering
some general rules of thumb to guide the Workbook user, who by now is
certainly an expert!
Here, big time, is the interactive part: The Interactive Citation
Workstation (ICW 2001) n6 [n6 <http://icw.lexisnexis.com> accessed 11/25/01.
 As a point of interest, this URL is not the one provided for the ICW in the
Workbooks, which is <http://lawschool.lexis.com/icw>, although the Workbook
URL does forward automatically to the more current web address.] allows
online completion of exercises and much, much more.  Access to the ICW
requires registration, either for registered LexisNexis law school student
users holding a valid LexisNexis ID or for other users, who must provide
first name, last name, e-mail and professors' e-mail each time they select
an exercise from the ICW menu.  My Lexis-Nexis ID did not work (not
surprising since I am not a law student user), but I was able to register
using my own name, and my e-mail address as both user and professor and
complete part of an exercise.  ACongratulations, Citation Wizard!@ was the
message upon successful completion of a problem during my hands-on trial.
Okay, I really liked that part.
ICW 2001Instructions n7 [n7 <http://icw.lexisnexis.com/instructions.htm>
accessed 11/25/01.] provides information for both Bluebook and ALWD (click
on the appropriate button to select) on Getting Started, with Online Intro
Quiz; Exercise Problem Page Format, listing the elements of a typical ICW
problem page; Drafting a Citation Solution, including the opportunity to
preview prior to submitting; and Italicizing Text and Inserting Symbols in
the solution.  Feedback and Correction allows three attempts at a correct
citation, with feedback (niftily color-coded blue for correct parts of the
citation and red for incorrect parts)  and hints (references to appropriate
rules) for each incorrect try , and notation of problems correctly solved
(or not).  When the student finishes the exercise, a click of the DONE
button will provide a Completion Certificate page which may be printed to
hand in; results on the Completion Certificate page are automatically sent
to e-mail addresses of both student and professor.  For registered student
users with LexisNexis ID, results are retained by the system and may be
accessed at a later date; ICW retains the input of other users for only 24
hours.
Not surprisingly, the online Exercise Problem Pages parallel the seventeen
chapters in each Workbook, and the online exercise problems are identical to
the print.  Authors wisely suggest that students may wish to draft solutions
in the print Workbook before entering them online, an approach which may
save time and self esteem as exercises become steadily more complex.
Lexis Publishing makes available via the ICW a complimentary Teachers
Manual, Awhich includes exercises and answers for both Workbooks, . .
explains the theory and logic of this print-and-electronic approach to
teaching legal citation and provides suggestions for integrating either
Workbook and Workstation into [the] curriculum at . n8 [n8
<http://icw.lexisnexis.com/professor.htm> accessed 11/25/01.]
The package is impressive, combining the considerable wit and pedagogical
skills of the authors with the powerful tutorial capability of the
Interactive Citation Workstation to provide the satisfaction and
reinforcement of instant feedback.  Hey, I=m a Citation Wizard, can you
believe it?  As a teacher (although of library students, not of law
students), I was caught by the clarity of the writing and of the instruction
in these resources and will use them in my Law Librarianship course during
the coming semester. These two deceptively unassuming soft cover books and
their faithful electronic companion are a boon both to law students
struggling to understand the intricacies of legal citation and to professors
of legal research and writing, to whom routinely fall the tasks of
initiating the struggle and the responsibility to see it successfully
completed.  Only dentists will not profit from the sharp decline in
teeth-gnashing at law schools across the land.





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_______________________________________________________________________
Eugene Garfield, PhD.  email: garfield at codex.cis.upenn.edu
home page: www.eugenegarfield.org
Tel: 215-243-2205 Fax 215-387-1266
President, The Scientist LLC. www.the-scientist.com
Chairman Emeritus, ISI www.isinet.com
Past President, American Society for Information Science and Technology
(ASIS&T)  www.asis.org
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